/lit/ - Literature

Interested too

are robes better than modern clothes

>>12569673
Yeah
boner
cumm
you are nipple ?
big dick
you are masterbaiting?
big
i cumn in ur rob

>>12569677
CHECKD
based my broguy

very based

>>12569641

A joke makes you laugh as soon as you hear it. If you have to think about it, you don't get to really enjoy the joke.
A koan makes you experience samadhi as soon as you meditate on it. If you have to think about it, you don't get to experience samadhi.

Don't hang on the holiness of zen punchlines.

>>12569673
It's really just down to habits, but in absolute terms: no.
>no riding horses
>wind gets inside beyond your control
>get entangled in stuff
>step on hem
>drops into the toilet while shitting

>>12569673
Depends on the robe. Kaftans are pretty fun.

>>12570300
a kaftan is not a robe any more than, say, a poncho is

>>12569689
This. If a koan works, you just feel it. Having to think about it means to don't get it, and analyzing it won't allow you to comprehend it any better.

>>12569641
Blue cliff record
Book of serenity
The gateless gate

Those are your koan collections

>>12569641
The Sound if One Hand

>>12569641
>one that talks about their [...] meaning
A koan that can be fully explained is not a koan.

>>12569641
The Sound of One Hand

>>12569673
In hot climates, yes.
In cool climates, no.

>>12570331
Wikipedia calls them a robe. The people who wear them call them robes. Beyond that, I’m not any more interested in the distinction than I am in the “is a taco a sandwich” debate.

>>12569673
Wearing robes is larping and probably more about narcissism by making yourself stand out; there's no reason for that over simple, inexpensive, inconspicuous normal clothing.

>>12569689
>>12570343
Kind of an imperfect view. In fact, Zen monks were actually given specific koans to meditate on for long times. They were meant to mull over specific ones for very long times. One went through an almost indescribable process of stretching a certain faculty in one’s mind in a possibly very frustrating way. The faculty which wants to understand something which can’t be easily understood. It’s a sort of repeated disappointment and frustration. I believe the technical term for it (and other things which increased one’s spirituality and honest desire for enlightenment) in Zen was “the arousing of potentiality”. Eventually (in ideal cases), something finally “pops” in the monk’s mind. Such understanding is unmistakable, often includes joyous laughter, and the irrepressible desire to act in a very strange and bizarre way immediately after, which may include saying something out loud or writing a verse about one’s enlightenment. It’s not just being really chill (although being chill is very good in its own right).

“One day when I was passing through southern Ise, I ran into a downpour and the waters reached to my knees. Suddenly I gained an even deeper understanding of the verse on the Roundness of the Lotus Leaf by Ta-hui. I was unable to contain my joy. I lost all awareness of my body, fell headlong into the waters, and forgot completely to get up again. My bundles and clothing were soaked through. Fortunately a passer-by, seeing my predicament, helped me to get up. I roared with laughter and everyone there thought I was mad.”
Hakuin Ekaku

Such seemingly bizarre behavior may be more indicative of suddenly breaking through a koan.

Charles Luk’s “Ch’an and Zen Teaching” series is a wonderful series on Zen which includes koans and talks about their background and meaning, as OP is asking for.

This thread made a pit bull attack me.

>>12570944
what if you only do it at home in private for the comfy feel
feel like the elegance of flowing clothes can really bring out some good thoughts in a person

>>12569641
I love when philosophies and religions contradict themselves at the core. God really makes it easy on us.

>>12570944
>narcissism by making yourself stand out;

>>12569689


>>12570343


>>12570608

Hey fucknuts, I'm interested in the historical context of the koans. I'm aware that you can't explain paradoxes, but when a koan goes along the lines of "Does a dog have buddha nature? No" it makes little sense in any regard, not just the fundamental paradoxism.


>>12571410

Thanks for the help my man, and for not being a douchebag.